


Building Codes in the White City

by Saentorine



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Ficlet, Fluff, Gen, King Aragorn, Male Friendship, Minas Tirith, Past Character Death, Post-War, Post-War of the Ring, Silly, Vignette, Writing In Quarantine, Young Boromir, Young Faramir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:47:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23529406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saentorine/pseuds/Saentorine
Summary: Gimli has some advice for the rebuilding of Minas Tirith.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Building Codes in the White City

**Author's Note:**

> Rewatching Return of the King in quarantine and wondering why there's a reinforced opening straight off the end of a cliff even before Denethor runs off the end of it . . .

Gimli had made plans for the revival of the White City since he had first entered her gates in the wake of battle, even before they had ridden forth to the Black Gate, and yet it was several months before he was able to make his suggestions to the king. After so long with Aragorn and Legolas as his foremost companions, it was strange to have to wait to see his friend, but there was so much for Aragorn to attend to: his coronation and attendant pageantry, the replacement of the White Tree, his marriage to Arwen, and all manner of judgements pronounced in the transition of power back to the monarch.

Gimli finally got his official audience in late summer. The season now gloriously warm in the absence of the Shadow to the east, he was grateful for the brisk mountain breeze wafting through the citadel. Aragorn looked oddly clean compared to how Gimli had always known him, but seemed to have gotten comfortable with his crown. Faramir, looking rosier than he had during his convalescence in the Houses of Healing, sat at the king’s side as steward to offer the perspective of one who had known the city before the siege.

“Clearly the priority ought to be the repair of the first level, given the extent of the damage,” Gimli explained, itemizing the worst breaches in the wall and ruined roads while indicating them on a chart he had marked. “And you ought to put some engineers— I would recommend a team of Dwarves, if I do say so myself— on the task of checking the structure under the second level, and reinforcing if need be, for if the base isn’t still intact . . . well, there’s no purpose in bothering with the rest of it.

“But it troubles me there is so much that needs restoring,” he continued, “even high and deep away from the assault, that must have predated the siege. Your people did themselves no favors to allow so much to fall so far into disrepair before the battle had started.”

“It’s difficult to make renovations in Minas Tirith,” Faramir explained. “There are many laws governing the preservation of historical architecture and a succession of city councilors must approve all proposals.”

“Some of it— take no offense to my saying so— is simply poor design from the start. We Dwarves follow stricter code on the management of railings and passageways in case of such disasters as might befall in battle or natural hazard. It is not _preservation_ that rules us, but sound structure and safety.”

“Were it not for the foresight of Dwarvish architects, I daresay we never would have passed out of Moria,” Aragorn agreed. They had scarcely made it as it was, though that was less to do with the architecture so much as the present residents.

Gimli shifted back in his seat, wondering if it were a poor subject to broach in front of Faramir, but continued. “ _Why_ , for example, at the edge of the citadel courtyard is there an ungated passageway straight off the end of a cliff some seven hundred feet tall?” _Aside from giving the conflagrant former Steward a clear path to cast himself off the end of?_ he refrained from adding. Granted, Denethor likely wouldn’t have survived slamming into a gate or retaining wall, either, being that he was already in flames, but still. “And this was not the damage of the Enemy’s catapults; by the reinforced stone around it, this was intentional."

“Oh, in peacetime it was rigged with a hauling system,” Faramir explained. “It’s much easier to hoist goods from the city gate directly to the Citadel than wind round all those levels. The ropes were cut before the siege.”

“That I can understand, but— ungated? No barrier for when it is not in use and no sentry to man it? Nothing to guard against a child or wayward drunk from rambling off the edge in the dark?”

“Indeed not,” Faramir’s sparkled with a sort of mischief. “In fact, children may have been its chief operators. Boromir and I often used to lower each other in turns down in the baskets when we didn’t want to bother with the long ride.”

Gimli’s eyes bulged. “It's certainly a wonder the house of the Stewards lasted as long as it has.”

“We weren’t particularly well supervised,” Faramir shrugged.

“We will install a latched gate and perhaps a guard when resources allow for it,” Aragorn agreed. “For now I daresay anyone on level with the Citadel has sense enough not to approach it recklessly.”

“I suppose that depends on how quickly your own little heirs start running around,” Gimli replied with a wink. “You’ve been waiting a while for some time with your queen.”


End file.
